Posted 7 years ago on Dec. 5, 2011, 1:55 p.m. EST by PublicCurrency
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Ask Obama To Veto Indefinite Military Detention of AMERICAN CITIZENS

An unimaginable violation of due process: The Senate just voted to allow the military to detain American citizens indefinitely -- without even charging them with a crime -- if they are said to be suspected of terrorism.

As Senator Dianne Feinstein put it, "Congress is essentially authorizing the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens, without charge" if the bill passes as it's currently written.

Thankfully, President Obama has threatened to veto the bill, noting that:

Applying this military custody requirement to individuals inside the United States, as some Members of Congress have suggested is their intention, would raise serious and unsettled legal questions and would be inconsistent with the fundamental American principle that our military does not patrol our streets.

Obama will only have a few days to make up his mind: Will you urge him to make good on his veto threat? Just fill out the form at right.

PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: We urge you to stand by your threat to veto the new National Defense Authorization Act. Allowing indefinite military detention of American citizens -- without even being charged -- is an unfathomable violation of due process.

Please sign petition - urge Obama to veto the legislation -- doing so will generate an email to the White House.

10 Comments

This is an unbelievable travesty - and tragedy. First of all, I'm sure only a miniscule percentage of Americans are even aware of Senate Bill 1867 ES and if you actually read Subtitle D - Detainee Matters, Sections 1031 through 1035, you will find the language deliberately vague and difficult to interpret. It makes you wonder whether or not before commenting, you really need a legal opinion about what it really says. If you do, contact Michael Brenner, Senior Fellow, the Center for Transatlantic Relations and Professor of International Affairs at the University Of Pittsburgh.

Unless you have been personally involved in this sort of thing, you simply have no idea of what is involved. I do. It's torture. I've been tortured - not by the United States but by the Soviet KGB in Moscow's infamous Lubyanka prison. I know that dates me and perhaps you think that such old stuff is irrelevant. To see how the current U.S. military has reacted to the detention of 'terrorists' whose term of detention is indefinite and who have no rights whatsoever, you have only to watch the 1.5 hour-long documentary produced by the ACLU and which was aired on PBS. You can see it on www.torturingdemocracy.org. What you will see is real - it's actual. It will outrage you. It should make you weep.

I would love to see the 97 Senators that voted for this bill be subjected to 'extraordinary rendition' and thrown into the cages in Guantanamo and other military 'detention sites' around the world and with little or no clothes on and arms and legs shacked to the concrete floor be forced to watch this ACLU documentary continuously for a week.

You're free - for the moment at least. Go watch the documentary - all of it. Then write President Obama and your Senators and Representatives. Tell them what you really think. You may not have too many more chances. You probably have the most probability among all Americans to be branded as 'terrorists'.

The reason for this law will be when push comes to shove and people start to revolt.Then they will bring the military and claim everyone is a terrorist against the US and lock everybody up.As well as they will be able to dissolve your citezinship even if you were born in this country.

If Obama vetoes, it's because he doesn't like it in its current form:
The guy who legalized assassinations of American citizens.... he can already throw American citizens into imprisonment. He just wants to be able to make it juicier.. then it'll pass.

They love to play mind games.. As long as ppl keep on hoping in this President.. they can control the masses like blind sheep.

Sorry to break it to you but it's already legal. Obama made it legal to assassinate American citizens even overseas.

This is a bill that the Democrats introduced but only to clarify the terms a bit, but technically they can already do it and have always recognized that they could.

I'll sign though still, but I'm hearing different things. What was the bill that the NY times reported, that passed the Senate that denied clarifying the terms of excluding American citizens? Or was that another bill? I may be getting this one wrong, but yeah in terms of American citizens overseas---no due process.

what you are asking for is crazy! It means Obama will not have to have obey the rules of war principally the Geneva Convention. This means he and his administration will be allowed to freely participate in the torture of others.